We polish our big bellies with creams, we henna Eden vines on them,we Buddha rub them, as do strangers, for wealth. In birth class they tell usyour body was made for this. They tell us your mothers were strapped down and drugged. We are capable of doing so much more: of squatting, of controlling our contractingmuscles, of talking to our babies, guiding them out. Picture your cervix opening, opening they tell us, and we picture mandalas everywhere—